Nationwide AI and Blockchain Research Center to be launched by Nigeria
Nigeria Moves Forward with National Blockchain Policy
Nigeria is taking significant steps towards the integration of blockchain technology into various sectors of its economy. The National Blockchain Policy, launched in May 2023 by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) in collaboration with key stakeholders, aims to institutionalize blockchain technology for national development, innovation, and digital sovereignty.
The policy focuses on promoting secure digital identities, improving public sector transparency, supporting innovation hubs, creating regulatory frameworks, and developing human capital. Key next steps involve enacting enabling legislation to recognize blockchain digital signatures and identities, unifying regulations through a National Digital Assets Commission, funding capacity building, launching public pilot projects, and developing evaluation metrics.
Aristotle Onumo, NITDA's director of corporate planning and strategy, made this announcement during the IoT West Africa Conference on July 2, 2023. Onumo was standing in for Director-General Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi during the announcement.
NITDA's commitment to fostering a dynamic technology research environment is evident in its plans to establish research hubs for emerging technologies like AI, IoT, and blockchain across Nigeria's six geopolitical zones. These hubs are expected to promote interdisciplinary work across these technologies, though specific details or established hubs are not fully outlined yet.
In his pre-election manifesto, President Bola Tinubu promised to integrate blockchain into various sectors of the Nigerian economy. To support this, the 2025 Investment and Securities Act, signed into law by President Tinubu, grants legal status to cryptocurrencies as securities and introduces the first-ever stablecoin regulatory framework. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has started issuing provisional licenses to crypto firms and requires strict compliance standards, including transaction monitoring tools and capital requirements.
Despite promising developments, it remains unclear how Nigeria plans to transform these policies and promises into tangible, productive endeavours. The National Blockchain Policy still faces challenges around coherence, capacity, and effective rollout. No publicly available roadmap has been provided for the implementation of the National Blockchain Policy.
NITDA is also actively nurturing talent by supporting the Three Million Technical Talent (3MTT) program initiated by the federal government, which aims to have three million skilled Nigerians by 2027.
As Nigeria moves forward with its National Blockchain Policy, it is clear that the country is positioning itself to advance blockchain adoption integrated with emerging technologies. However, the practical establishment of research hubs and full policy implementation remains a work in progress requiring enabling laws, coordinated regulation, adequately funded capacity building, and pilot results to guide scaling.
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- Nigeria's National Blockchain Policy, collaboratively launched with key stakeholders, extends to promoting the integration of blockchain technology with emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and IoT across the country.
- As part of the National Blockchain Policy, a regulatory framework is being developed for digital assets such as cryptocurrencies, with the 2025 Investment and Securities Act granting them legal status as securities.
- Startups working with digital assets and cryptocurrencies in Nigeria are subject to strict compliance standards, as evidenced by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issuing provisional licenses and requiring the use of transaction monitoring tools and capital requirements.
- The National Blockchain Policy aims to create a conducive environment for innovation, supporting hubs for startups and developing human capital through initiatives like the Three Million Technical Talent (3MTT) program.
- Effective implementation of the National Blockchain Policy faces challenges around coherence, capacity, and rollout, with a publicly available roadmap yet to be provided.
